Thursday, May 11, 2017

MAY 11, 2017

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1904 - Salvador Dali, surrealist artist, is born Salvador Felip Jacint Dalí Domènech in the town of Figueres, in Catalonia, Spain. Dali will paint the cover art for Jackie Gleason's Capitol Records album "Jackie Gleason Presents Lonesome Echo" and a photo of him shaking hands with Gleason is on the back cover.

1911 - Phil Silvers, actor, comedian and Capitol Records artist as a guest vocalist on Johnny Mercer's first big hit for the label, "Strip Polka", is born Philip Silversmith in Brooklyn, New York. Mercer will later write the Broadway musical "Top Banana" for Silvers and Capitol Records will release its original Broadway cast album.
1930 - Marilyn King, singer, sister-in-law of Captiol Records artist Alvino Rey and Capitol Records executive Jim Conkling as well as actor Robert Clarke and keyboardist Buddy Cole, and youngest member of the Capitol Records group The King Sisters, is born Marilyn Adine Driggs in Los Angeles, California
1931 - Dick Garcia, guitarist with the Capitol Records group The George Shearing Quintet, is born in New York City, New York

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1946 - Andy Russell (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside)" is #4 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart and Alvino Ray (with vocals by Rocky Coluccio)'s Capitol Records single "Cement Mixer (Put-Ti Put-Ti)" with "We'll Gather Lilacs" on the flip side, debuts at #6
1950 - Mel Blanc records the tracks "I'm Glad That I'm Bugs Bunny" and "Daffy Duck's Rhapsody" for the Capitol Records children's EP "Bugs Bunny Sings". The sessions were produced by Alan Livingston who also wrote the songs with Warren Foster, Mike Maltese, and Billy May. May also arranged and conducted the session with additional uncredited vocals provided by June Foray and Tom Reddy
1953 - Bobby Hackett (on coronet, with Lou Stein on piano, Billy Bauer on guitar, Arnold Fishkind on bass, Denzil Best on drums, and a string quintet of four violas and one cello), during two sessions held on the same day in New York City, New York, records the tracks "That Old Black Magic", "The Song Is You", "You Turned The Tables On Me" and "Someday You'll Be Sorry" during the first session and "Easy To Love", Soft Lights And Sweet Music", "I Cried For You (Now It's Your Turn To Cry Over Me)" and "Bobby's Blues" during the second session, for his Capitol Records album "Soft Lights And Bobby Hackett"
1959 - Capitol Records artist Judy Garland opens on Broadway at the Metropolitan Opera House for a series of 7 concerts, which will end on May 17, 1959.
1959 - Buck Owens' Capitol Records single "Second Fiddle", with "My Everlasting Love" on the flipside, becomes his first single to enter the U.S. Country singles chart
1960 - Gene Vincent, at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, England, records the track "Pistol Packin' Mama" using an arrangement that he had worked on with Eddie Cochran, with whom he had planned to record the song before Cochran's death in a car crash in England. Backing was provided by The Beat Boys featuring Georgie Fame, who was also touring with Gene, on piano. "Pistol Packin' Mama" would be Vincent's biggest UK hit, peaking at No. 15. At the same session Gene also recorded the ballad, "Weeping Willow" with the Norrie Paramor Orchestra.
1964 - Capitol Records releases The Beach Boys' single "I Get Around", with "Don't Worry Baby" on the flipside
1964 - The Beatles mono EP "Four By The Beatles" is released in the U.S. with the tracks "Roll Over Beethoven" and "This Boy" on the A side and "All My Loving" and "Please Mr. Postman" on the B side
1965 - Masters for The Beatles tracks "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and "Bad Boy" are sent by The Beatles, via air mail, to Capitol Records and the shooting of "Help!" resumes in Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire.
1968 - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Mal Evans, Derek Taylor and Neil Aspinal arrive in New York to promote Apple Corps.
1970 - The Beatles' Apple Records single "Long And Winding Road", with "For You Blue" on the flipside, is released by Capitol Records in the United States
1970 – The Chairmen of the Board's "Gimme Just a Little More Time" on Invictus Records, distributed by Capitol Records, is certified Gold by the RIAA
1973 - Helen Reddy performs live at the Palladium, London, England from May 11-13. The performances are recorded and will be released by Capitol Records on the album "Live In London"
1988 - Capitol Records exec, Lynn Shults, goes to the Bluebird Cafe to hear Garth Brooks perform in front of a live audience. After the show Shultz does a handshake deal signing Brooks to Capitol Records
2001 - Paul McCartney's TV special "Wingspan" has it's world debut on ABC-TV in the United States.

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1943 - Les Chadwick, bassist for the group Gerry and the Pacemakers, is born John Leslie Chadwick in Liverpool, England
1965 - The musical "Flora, the Red Menace", featuring a score by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, opens on Broadway at The Alvin Theatre with future Capitol Records artist 19 year-old Lisa Minnelli in her first starring role, a role that will also make her the youngest woman ever to win a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical
1981 - "All Those Years Ago", George Harrison's tribute single to John Lennon, with help from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, is released in the U.S. by Dark Horse Records with "Writings On The Wall" on the flipside
1991 - Roxette's EMI America single "Joyride", with "Come Back" on the flipside, is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1888 - Irving Berlin, songwriter, producer, and motion picture actor, is born in Israel Isidore Beilin somewhere in Russia/Beylorussia or possibly Temun, Russia. If anyone knows for sure where Irving was born, please leave a comment.
1918 - Richard Feynman, physicist, teacher, lecturer, percussionist and occasional stage actor (CalTech's Theatre Arts musicals including "South Pacific" and "Kismet"), is born Richard Phillips Feynman in in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York. I met him when I was doing the poster and program design (as well as working a spotlight) and he would be drawing in a sketchbook during rehearsals and go to the cast parties including on at Al Hibb's home in Pasadena where I was in charge of the music. He really liked the soundtrack to Jonathan Demme's "Something's Wild" as well as any big band music with a great beat that I played.
90 Years Ago Today In 1927 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded
1941 - Eric Burdon, lead singer of the group The Animals, is born Eric Victor Burdon in Walker-on-Tyne, Northumberland, England
1970 – The triple album soundtrack to "Woodstock" is released and will be certified Gold in just two weeks by the R.I.A.A.
1979 - Country legend Lester Flatt, best remembered for his recordings with partner Earl Scruggs of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Theme To The Beverly Hillbillies", dies in Nashville, Tennessee at age 64
1981 - Bob Marley (born Robert Nesta Marley), singer, songwriter, and father of EMI America and Virgin Records artists Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers, dies at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida of cancer at age 36

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This blog contains information, that I gather daily, about the history of Capitol Records, related labels, The Capitol Records Tower, and other pop culture events and anniversaries.
Please contact me if you have any corrections, comments and/or facts you'd like to share.
To see some great photos of the opening of The Capitol Tower and to get a quick overview of Capitol's early history check out the archive for April 2006.

THE MELLOWAIRES?

I'm trying to track down who was in this group. They sang backup for Martha Tilton and Johnny Mercer at Capitol's first session on April 6, 1942 and at other sessions up until July 31, 1942, (the day before the recording ban went into effect) when the backed Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, Ella Mae Morse, Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting.Every listing for them just gives the group's name and, so far, none of the curators at the libraries that house the papers of Johnny Mercer, Dave Dexter, Jr., Jo Stafford and Paul Weston's collections, who really went all out to search, have been able to track down the group's roster.The Mellowaires also made two three minute "soundies" in 1942, "Cocktails For Two" with Bob Hughes and "LullabyIn Swing" on their own, copies of which are in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.Any help identifying anyone in this group would be much appreciated.